My answer for this is the same as Day 3. Very first one in any format was the Sibling Revelry on cassette. First vinyl was Purple Onion. Not only my first albums but also my favorites 🥰 And I share how I got each one of those in that post.
And since I showed the front covers of those albums also on Day 3, and I didn’t want to use the same picture again, I decided to share the back covers this time 😅
There were a total of 12 albums released. During the 60’s, 11. Years later, in 1988, a “Best Of”. And all of them I love to bits. But which one is my favorite?
There’s two.
Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers
This one which is pretty much like it sounds: a compilation of routines from their albums that are tops. I got the cassette version as a birthday present from a family friend. I don’t remember any other birthday presents I got that year.
It was also my first foray into hearing them. I listened to that a lot. Brought it with me a few months later when I had jaw surgery. Since my whole head was wrapped up in bandages and my eyes swollen, watching tv was out of the question, so I brought things to listen to, this album being one of them. My jaw was also tightly rubber-banded shut to hold things in place, and I couldn’t laugh the regular way. When I wanted to laugh, all that energy had to go somewhere and I convulsed with laughter which shook the hospital bed, and I made weird sounds since I couldn’t move my head. The nurses probably wondered if I was ok 😂.
This is the tracklist of what’s on the cassette version:
Tom Dooley
Chocolate
Laredo
The Saga Of John Henry
Gnus
Crabs Walk Sideways
Mediocre Fred
Mom Always Liked You Best
You Can Call Me Stupid
Jenny Brown
The Military Lovers
I Talk To The Trees
Hangman
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore
I later saw my local library had the CD version which had more routines on it. Needless to say, I checked that out several times until I bought my own copy.
And then at some point I bought the vinyl version. Because that’s the kind of fan I am 🤓
I definitely would recommend this album if you are a new fan.
But it’s easy to say a “Best of” album as a favorite.
The Songs and Comedy of the Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion
That summer of 1989 I was home recovering from jaw surgery, and my mom mentions that she thinks she has a Smothers Brothers record somewhere.
“Really?!? WHERE?!?”
“Oh, it’s somewhere in the steam trunk”
Although I had my own records when I was little (Sesame Street, Disney, Beach Boys, Elton John), I don’t remember my parents listening to their records. I remember listening to their 8-tracks many many times, and my own. But in ’89 I went through their record collection (Sgt Pepper! Including the sheet of cut-outs!), and lo-and-behold I found the Purple Onion album.
It was a good thing I didn’t know about mom having this record when I was little, because otherwise it would have gone the way of my own records… which is probably why they weren’t brought out often! 😂
Below, my daughter listening to the album on our (then) brand new record player. I am hoping to get a better player later on, because the one I have is 😒.
I love this album, partly for sentimental reasons, but also because it has great balance of routines and songs. One of them, “They Call The Wind Maria”, is my favorite song they sing straight (2nd half of track 4). It has a comedic intro, but once they start singing, they sing it straight.
“Down in the Valley” is also performed straight (again, right after a comedic intro, but this time it’s how people come up to them and question whether or not they are really brothers and if their real name is Smothers 🤣).
And from this album I heard about the famous folk song “Tom Dooley” (track 7) that I had previously never heard of. It was the only routine that I was familiar with, it being the first track from the “The Best of” album. I loved Tom’s intro saying that another group (that I had equally hadn’t heard of – The Kingston Trio) had stolen the song from his brother. I started to listen to the Trio because of this.
Sidenote – Tom Dooley was based on a real person who (according to legend) was innocently hung for the death of his lover. You can begin you rabbit hole journey of the song here, here, and here.
In reality, Tom and Dick would often credit The Kingston Trio for opening the doors to their, and many others, popularity.
Back on track
Below is the playlist of the whole Purple Onion album:
The reasons why this is my favorite boils down to a great balance of straight singing and comedic routines, both done superbly.
Dickie wasn’t established as the straight man yet.
Only the opening routine was recorded at the Purple Onion. Due to technical issues, the other recordings from that performance were scrapped . Most of the album was recorded at the Tidelands Club.
Afterthought – I should have put this part of the challenge after I went through all their albums. Oh well 🙃
I don’t go to concerts very much. In fact, I think the last time I went to one was to see the Smothers Brothers. And they retired in 2010, so that gives you an idea. But I saw them much more than all other concerts combined (John Denver in ’85, Janet Jackson in ’90, and David Byrne also in ’90… I think that’s it, 😂).
So how many times? I don’t remember. I lost count. But there were a few that stood out.
The first time I saw them, it was February 1990. Not only did I see them in concert, I got to meet them backstage.
Here’s my Instagram post I made for my personal #OTD a couple years ago!
But I’ll tell more of this tale in my future Day 6 “Have you lucky been lucky enough to meet them?” post :).
My small George Harrison / Beatles experience
I saw them a few more times with my grandmother. Once with both my grandmother and grandfather when they played with Florida Symphony (Philharmonic? not sure) Orchestra. After I got married, I saw them a few more times with my (at the time) husband. At one concert, we sat in a row that was technically the second row, but the first row was short, and our row was longer and wrapped around a little bit so it was like sitting first row. And it was at that concert I saw their montage of photos and video clips about their life that was shown between their usual routines and then change to the closing Yo-Yo Man bit. The montage got to the Comedy Hour (found that part of the montage here) and up came the clip of when George Harrison came on to thank them for having the Beatles on a couple weeks earlier.
At the time of this particular concert, it was a few weeks after 9/11 and just a few days after George’s passing. Everyone was still a bit emotional. And when that clip showed up on the screen at the concert… well, I never heard so much cheering, clapping, stomping of feet, roaring of cheers before! Was the roof going to cave in from the reverberating happy noise? In the following times I saw Tom and Dick, and that montage was shown, there wasn’t the same kind of uproarious cheer, so that night was something special.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night
Then there was the time when my mom, daughter, and I went to see them at the Strawberry Festival in 2008. My daughter had never seen them live and was curious to see what they were about on stage. It was an outside venue. And it started to rain. More and more. But they stayed on stage. My mom and daughter went to seek shelter, but my feeling was if they were going to be on stage, I was staying put. I had come to the realization the previous couple times that I won’t be seeing them live many more times, and to not take it for granted. And I wasn’t going let a little (ha!) water ruin my fun.
Though I was concerned about them being onstage, with whatever electrical equipment mixed in with rain.
The last time
The last time I saw them was in 2009. It was their 50th anniversary and there was no way I was going to miss seeing them. It was, oddly enough, at the university I graduated from years earlier. When I had attended in the 90s, I thought “Wouldn’t it be cool if they came over and performed here? But that’s *never* going to happen!”
Well, not while I was a student there. A stint with the circus, marriage, two kids, and divorce later 🤣
My dad went with me. He averaged seeing them about once every 20ish years: once in the 60s, once in 1990 as mentioned above, and again in 2009. It was a great show. And they sang my favorite song they have sung straight, “They Call The Wind Mariah“. Dick introduced the song by saying they hadn’t performed it in 40 years, and Tom (just loud enough for the mic to pick it up) says “I hope I remember how it goes,” which everyone laughed at.
The concert I didn’t see
In the beginning of 2010, my cousin Nancy (who helped tracked down some Smothers albums for me in the pre-internet days and recorded the Comedy Hour when it was re-aired on E! network), had told me about how they were going to be at that year’s Strawberry Festival. And for some unknown reason I didn’t get tickets. I have absolutely no idea why. If I had known they were going to retire later that year, I would have gone.
But maybe, in the future ?
At the time of writing this, they are planning a tour of some places and already played in some areas, though different kind of concert. They had planned doing it earlier this year, but scheduling was delayed because of upsurge in Covid cases. A mix of performing, showing clips from the Comedy Hour, and “Question & Answer” session. They are making an appearance in Florida, and I hope to be there!
Live recordings
A fun filmed live performance was done back in the late 80s for PBS’s series “An Evening With Pops” with the Boston Pops with the legendary John Williams conducting/ It gives you a good idea of what it was like seeing them in concert. Below I have a playlist of shortened version of their live performance.
Fun little side bonus
From this same episode of the Evening with Pops. Tom and Dick do no appear in, but Dickie’s bass can be seen in a couple shots: The 1988 Olympic Spirit theme , composed and conducted by John Williams
So there I was in 1986, a 13 year old kid, flipping TV channels on our TV in our family room looking for something to watch. And then I see them. It was on the Nickelodeon channel during a block of shows called Camp Nickelodeon (shortly later to be renamed Nick at Night). It was a black and white sitcom that I had never seen before – “The Smothers Brothers Show”. And two guys who (I thought) I had never seen before , the blond haired one telling his dark haired brother that he was an angel.
I was familiar with 50s and 60s sitcoms such as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, I Dream of Jeanie, and my absolute all-time favorite: The Dick Van Dyke Show. But this one I had never seen before. Who were these guys?
I decided to keep watching to find out. Fate, or destiny, or something, had blindsided me without me knowing it.
The Smothers Brothers Show. A sitcom where the blond-haired Tom arrives on Earth as an angel (after drowning at sea) and comes to ask his dark-haired brother Dick for help in earning his angel wings.
There’s only one complete episode I can find online: ” ‘Twas The Week Before Christmas”
I found out years later that they hated making the show, especially Tom since he had so many lines and, without him knowing at the time, was dyslexic, and had trouble. And they had little input into the creative process. And for the first few episodes they did not sing their theme song (that later changed. See – or hear – above). That would change when they were offered “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” after the angel show was canceled.
But for 1986 me, 13 years old, I guess I was the right demographic for this show. I loved it and watched it every Sunday evening. And my parents took notice.
One night my dad mentions that he went to see Tom and Dick in concert back in the 60s.
“Really? So did I!” my mom replies.
“Where?”
Mom says where (some college campus somewhere)
“That’s where I saw them!” dad says and they laugh.
And we laughed at the possibility of if they had met there rather than how they actually met (at a wedding where each of their best friends were getting married).
Censorship? Really?
And then I began to hear murmurs about how they had censorship battles. This totally baffled me: “What’s so controversial about the sitcom?” I had no idea about the Comedy Hour….yet.
In the summer of 1987, I was once again flipping tv channels (we did that a lot back then), and stopped on VH1. It was in the middle of the music video “Meet Me Half Way” by Kenny Loggins. I watched the rest, and when the VJ, Bobby Rivers came on, he introduced a couple of guests in the studio: Tom and Dick. And my jaw just dropped. VH1 was doing a week (or weekend, I forget) long spotlight on comedy, and for some reason, had the guys on. They talked about their comedy and the Comedy Hour. And then I saw my first clips of this controversial show I had heard about before but never saw.
The only clip I really remember is an opening where Tom is trying to put on police riot gear. Dick asks him what he is doing when they should be starting a show. Tom says that he’s getting ready for college. I laughed even though I didn’t get the real meaning. I later found out they were referring to the riots on college campuses between students and police over Vietnam protests.
Then the Reunion show…
A few months later I hear that they were coming back to tv for a Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 20th Reunion show! I was excited to see it, but I wasn’t able to watch it during the broadcast, so I recorded it. (That poor VHS tape had no idea what it was in for!). It had all the regulars on from two decades earlier: Pat Paulsen, John Hartford, Leigh French, Mason Williams, Glen Campbell, Jennifer Warnes; a couple writers who went on the bigger careers after the 60s series: Bob Einstein and Steve Martin.
I only caught their closing routine during the original broadcast:
I loved it! I sat there and laughed until i cried. It was fantastic. So I watched from the beginning all the way through. Absolutely fabulous!
Also, they sang and played their instruments well too (which I was not yet really used to)
I would watch a segment before going to junior high as a boost for my day (alas, was too young for coffee). And it continued when they returned with a short season and specials of the new Comedy Hour later in 1988 and 1989 (which I recorded and wore out the tape).
Why a fan?
I was not (well, still not, lol) the typical age for being a fan of theirs, so what was it that got me hooked? First they were funny. When I first caught them was when I was just beginning to stop judging what I liked/didn’t like based on how old it was. And what I saw, I really liked.
When I was little, my parents had an 8-track player and I listened to a lot of the musical artists that I later discovered had appeared on the Comedy Hour (Peter, Paul, and Mary; Simon and Garfunkel; The Beatles; Glen Campbell; Joan Baez; Judy Collins). So there was a sense of familiarity and nostalgia with a show that was thrown off the air before I was born. Also I recognized some of the songs the brothers sang like “Slithery Dee“, “Michael Row the Boat Ashore“, “Down in the Valley“, “The Impossible Dream“. All these musical familiarities.
The sibling bickering. Being the oldest of 4, that was hilarious (also seeing my grandmother argue with her two brothers).
It was a great way for my to learn about history, particularly the 60s as it was happening.
Also being inspired by their fight with CBS about freedom of speech.
And that’s how it started and has happily kept on going since then 🙂 …
I know this is more niche than my Charlie Chaplin one. And even more niche than the Doctor Who challenge. For example, some of you might be thinking to yourself: “Who the heck are the Smothers Brothers?”
In a nutshell: Tom and Dick Smothers are real life brothers and from 1959 to 2010 they performed as a musical comedy team, with Tom on acoustic guitar and Dick playing double bass. Both of them singing (or attempting to sing) folk songs and breaking into sibling rivalry, occasionally arguing over who mom liked best. They made several comedy albums a few tv series, including the iconic 1960s “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” which got them in hot water over their position on the Vietnam War and shortly later, censorship.
I created this 30 Day Challenge as my way to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their first album, “The Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion” (released in May of 1961), and also because I am a huge fan and wanted to share it with others and maybe introduce them to you if you have no idea who they are.
To say that they have impacted my life is very much an understatement. Things I have gotten interested in stemmed from being a fan of theirs ranging from history, music, to political involvement, and classic comedy, and probably a few other things that I cannot think of right now. My life would be vastly different if it hadn’t been by chance of… well I don’t want to get ahead of myself 😉
So here it is:
How did you become a fan?
Did you ever see them in concert?
Favorite album
Favorite routine
First album you got
Have you lucky been lucky enough to meet them?
Thoughts of the Purple Onion album
Thoughts on The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers album
…Think Ethnic!
…Curb Your Tongue, Knave!
…It Must Have Been Something I Said!
…Tour de Farce: American History and Other Unrelated Subjects
…Aesop’s Fables: The Smothers Brothers Way
…Mom Always Liked You Best!
…The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight
…Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (the album)
…Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2
Favorite song they sang straight
Favorite interview
Thoughts on the “Smothered” documentary
Thoughts on the book “Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” by David Bianculli?
Should season one of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ever be released?
Favorite episode of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (original 60s, 70s, or 80s?)
Favorite Comedy Hour guest?
Favorite Comedy Hour musical guest?
Favorite regular?
Inspired by the Yo-Yo Man to learn (or re-learn) yo-yo tricks?
Favorite piece(s) of memorabilia
Favorite performance (Comedy Hour, late night TV, concert, etc)
Routine or album you would recommend to recruit a new fan?
If a movie/mini-series was made about them, who would you pick to play Tom and Dick?
If you are looking at this and saying “Hey, you have 31 days! I thought this was a 30 day challenge?” Well, it’s in spirit with how they number things, like their album “Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2”. There was no volume 1. And the release of their 60s Comedy Hour being released on DVD a few years ago. First was Season 3 (September 2008), then season 2 (October 2009)… season 1 has not been released yet (I am holding out hope!)
And I’ll end my 30 Day Challenge intro with their performance from 1966 on the Ed Sullivan Show. I love it because it’s an excellent short example of how they sang and played, and go into a little of their Mom Always Liked You Best routine:
I have two. My answers will not be surprising to long time Chaplin fans.
The Gentleman Tramp and Unknown Chaplin. Gentleman Tramp is a biography, and Unknown Chaplin is a “behind the scenes” doc.
I baffled my family growing up with the number of times I have watched these. And I have baffled my kids equally as much.
“Mom, you’re watching that again?“
Like his films, these docs are fun and comforting. And I appreciate the tons work that went into them.
By the way, these are listed in order of release date, not a ranking.
The Gentleman Tramp
First, The Gentleman Tramp, written and directed by Richard Patterson, narrated by Walter Matthau, released in 1975. One of the things that makes this interesting is that it was made while Chaplin was still alive.
I first saw it listed in David Robinson’s book. And then in the early 90s in my baby Chaplin fan days, I saw the VHS while browsing around one of my favorite stores, Media Play, and grabbed it up right away. And continued to watch it numerous times. Then many years later I saw it at Amazon from Patterson himself. The DVD has two versions of the doc: one is the version that was on the VHS, and another longer version with a introduction by Matthau and his son, Charlie as they traveled to Chaplin’s Switzerland home, and a couple alternate takes (for example: during the Joan Barry court case). The DVD also came with a booklet written by Patterson talking about the ups and downs of making the doc (Chaplin had some disagreements with him with how the doc was being put together). I usually watch the version that I first saw.
You can buy it from Amazon here. Or you can watch a couple clips from it that was put up by the official Chaplin YouTube Channel:
There’s no place that I know of where you can buy it streaming, but it is on DailyMotion – watch it here: part 1 and part 2.
All the music is either by Chaplin (most of it falls into this category), or about Chaplin (“When The Moon Shines Bright On Charlie Chaplin” played during discussing why Chaplin did not fight during WWI). It also has more footage from the 1972 Oscars than what exists online.
Narration is provided by Walter Matthau. Which seemed like an odd choice to me at first, but then I realized that his wife, Carol, and Charlie’s wife, Oona, had been best friends since their teens. Also wonderful voice-overs reading excepts from Chaplin’s autobiography (read by Laurence Olivier), his son Charlie Jr (haven’t ID’ed that voice), various news articles and gossip columns (either supporting Charlie or deriding him),
Unknown Chaplin
Unknown Chaplin was the first Chaplin documentary I saw, years before I was a fan. It was somewhere during part 2: “The Great Director” when they were showing how The Gold Rush was made. I remember sitting there amazed by everything. They were explaining how the famous shoe eating scene was done (the shoe was made of licorice). When I finally saw the film when I became a fan, I remember not being grossed out because I knew that it wasn’t a real shoe, just licorice in shape of a shoe. And it did not gross me out like it does everyone else. Then after I became a fan, I read how Chaplin said that he never liked to talk about how he made his films, because it ruined the magic of it. And I thought to myself “What is he talking about? I love seeing how it was done and all the behind the scenes stuff. That;s just silly…” And then I remembered the shoe, and then thought “Okay, maybe he does know what he’s talking about”. Haha.
What got me when I was younger was the witty writing, excellent narration (by James Mason), smart editing, fitting music (the wonderful Carl Davis!), and overall energy of the documentary. That’s what kept me watching the first time, and what keeps me coming back to it.
So what is Unknown Chaplin about?
In the 1970s when Kevin Brownlow and David Gill were putting together their behemoth multi-part documentary “Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film”, they discovered so much unseen Chaplin footage (that Chaplin had originally ordered to be destroyed) showing how he made his films that they decided to make a documentary based around that.
There’s 3 parts:
My Happiest Years – From his days at Mutual, this contains lots of footage of his filmed rehearsals as he worked out story ideas.
The Great Director – Footage from How to Make Movies, making of The Kid, The Gold Rush, City Lights,. Interviews with Dean Reisner, Jackie Coogan, Lita Grey, Robert Parrish, Virginia Cherrill, Georgia Hale..
Hidden Treasures – Main focus is ideas that Charlie would play around with earlier in his career with and how they would show up years later in his films. The other half is deleted scenes from his films. And some other footage from How To Make Movies and visitors to the studio
Below is part 1. I totally love all 3, but part 1 is my favorite, in particular the evolution of “The Immigrant”. And here’s part 3
Favorite lines/scenes from Unknown Chaplin
During the segment on how The Immigrant came about, in the scene with Charlie and Albert Austin, and Charlie purposely throwing Albert off and laughing:
“After all, it’s only slate one”
This is hilarious, because practically from the time Chaplin started directing while at Keystone, he was notorious for doing oodles and oodles of retakes.
And then shortly later
“The film is a simple cafe comedy about a man who’s never been in a cafe. That all it is. So far.”
In the beginning of part 2, “The Great Director”, Dean Reisner’s story of how Charlie and Sydney had to trick him into hitting them in The Pilgrim. Also love the edit of when Dean says “And so finally he and Sydney would play slapping games”. And it cuts to Charlie looking over at Sydney. Lovely edit! Also great story that I forgot to put in my “Favorite story about him told by someone else” post. You can also see this segment in the free preview on Amazon.
The opening of Hidden Treasures, with Doug Fairbanks 1929 home movie where Charlie is running around with a ancient Grecian tunic. And then fools around with a globe and then puts a WWI German helmet on it. Cut to 20 years later in The Great Dictator to the famous globe dance scene. That still jaw drops me! You can see the full home movie here (black and white, no music), and colorized (4k, 60fps,and music. Rather cool!)
(Side note: The above opening segment was cut out of the DVD and the version on Amazon. However, you can watch it in Amazon’s free preview. Why is it not included in the regular episode? I have absolutely no idea. I just noticed it now while writing this.)
From Hidden Treasures, the deleted barber scene from Sunnyside with Charlie and Albert Austin. Music is clever too. The song is from the opera The Barber of Seville. Like in Day 11 when it took me almost 30 years to realize Chaplin used Wagner in The Great Dictator, it took me a few years before I realized (though it was just 5 or so years). I was listening to the local NPR when they were playing Barber, and it got to that part, and I thought “Hey, I know that song!”. And then remembered Unknown Chaplin. Very clever use of the music :). You can watch the opera with that particular tune, “All’iddea di quel metallo”, here.
Also from Hidden Treasures, the cut scene from City Lights where Charlie tries to push a slat of wood down a grate. Most of the scene is slow, and I’m glad he cut it. BUT – the guy who comes out to window dress the mannequin and gets furious at Charlie for not figuring it out…. Love that!
Deleted from the DVD and Amazon release
One thing that got removed was Geraldine Chaplin’s introduction:
Right after the segment about the cut piece from “Behind the Screen” where Charlie just misses the huge axe landing on him, there was a pause before going onto the segment for “The Immigrant”. (Yeah, I watched the VHS that many times I remembered how it was edited, haha).
And, as I mentioned above about the Douglas Fairbanks opening for “Hidden Treasures”
Remember the Easter Egg in Robert Downey Jr’s Chaplin?
That documentary series I mentioned above that Brownlow and Gill made, “Hollywood” is an amazing multi-part series. One of the reasons why it’s amazing are the interviews with people who were there. Directors, actors and actresses that are no longer with us.
A great documentary that is not just about Chaplin, but the other great silent comedians: Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Harry Langdon. With interviews with Hal Roach, Frank Capra, and Jackie Coogan and a few other contemporaries. In “Comedy: A Serious Business”. Made by Brownlow and Gill a couple years prior to Unknown Chaplin.
It’s more of a video essay, but I really love the below video by the YouTube channel Newfangled (and currently has less than 1000 views at the moment): “Charlie Chaplin Doesn’t Give a F*ck”
There are a number of songs that are wonderful, like “Eternally” (theme song to Limelight), or A Paris Boulevard from Monsieur Verdoux, or “Georgia/The Dance Hall” from The Gold Rush. Those are closely behind my favorite
Mandolin Serenade. I just adore it. Many of his songs just melt my heart, but this one the most.
Below is the original:
Below is my favorite version of it, even more than the original (it seems seems like a song called Mandolin Serenade should have a mandolin more in the spotlight)
And here he is conducting it. I guess “conducting” is the best word for what he’s doing, haha
This one is hard (wait, I already said that for almost every other day in this challenge, haha), and like the “Favorite Film” one, it can change from whatever mood I’m in. In fact, while writing this, I have changed my mind 3… no, 4 times. Then thought “Pfftt! I’ll list more than one.”
The Circus
One I can say for sure: The Circus was my favorite to listen to while studying back when I was in college. Back then, (early mid 1990s), it was *right* before the internet boom (I fist got on the internet 1995) so there was no mp3s or YouTube. And no album releases of many of his soundtracks at the time. The ones that were released were hard to find (Limelight and A Countess from Hong Kong). So what I did, so that I wouldn’t be distracted by what was going on on the screen, was turn down the brightness and contrast until the screen was mostly dark, and just listen.
I liked The Circus best to study to because it flowed from one song to the next without changing too drastically as the other films (does that make sense? I hope so).
The Circus is one of those films that Chaplin went back to years later to add the music (film originally released in 1928, he re-released in 1969/70 with his music). “Swing Little Girl”, sung by Chaplin, has a lot of lyrical similarities to Smile. The mandolin parts during “The Fortune Teller” is so beautiful and gets me choked up every time.
The Gold Rush
Another one I absolutely love is The Gold Rush:
Not only did Chaplin write some of his own music, he would use pieces from either pop music of the time or classical. When I was a young fan and watched the 1942 version of the Gold Rush (little edits that Chaplin did to his 1925 film with music and his narration), I heard the song played during “Georgia/The Dancehall29:40 and thought “Wait a second, I know that song. Isn’t that ‘Once Upon a Dream‘ from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty? But that movie came out in the 1950s! So what song is this?” A few months later I happened to listen to some Tchaikovsky on the radio and heard his Sleeping Beauty Waltz. Mystery solved!
This wouldn’t be the last time Chaplin would introduce me to work by great composers that (duh me) would take some time before I realize “Wait…I know this from somewhere”. And that brings me to my next favorite.
The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator was Chaplin’s first all talking movie he made. And made wonderful music, as well as including pieces from the classical realm, such as Brahms:
That was east to ID the song since it’s announced on the radio in the beginning.
But what I didn’t know was Chaplin also used Wagner, Hitler’s favorite composer, several times in the film. Below, the song is the prelude to his opera Lohengrin
How slow was I in realizing it was Wagner?
(whispers, embarrassingly) Didn’t know untillast year. After having been a Chaplin fan for almost 30 years.
I was listening to a classical music YouTube playlist, and again, hearing the song…”I know this from somewhere…”. Then I laughed, realized where I had heard it before, and thought how clever it was for Chaplin to use Hitler’s favorite composer just as an extra push to his satire.
Anyway, here is the complete soundtrack (with some rare bonus stuff), recently re-released by the official Chaplin estate in celebration of the film’s 80th anniversary:
Okay, so there was one soundtrack that was released that I owned when in college. And I listened to a lot in college, especially driving back and forth to classes. It was a re-recording of the City Lights soundtrack with Carl Davis conducting. I listened to this sooo muuuch. There were pieces missing, but most of it was there.
But below is the complete soundtrack:
Limelight
Another beautiful soundtrack, though not as much music sine it’s a “talkie”. Some silly songs too. “I’m an Animal Trainer” and “Terry’s Solo/Terry’s Theme (Eternally)/Pas de Deux” are two of my favorites!
Monsieur Verdoux
One that doesn’t get as much attention, partly because there is not that much music, is for Monsieur Verdoux. Some of the sound effects from the film are in there but still very good stuff! Both parts of “A Paris Boulevard” (a great cover here) is upbeat and chipper. And then there is “Finale” which is played while Verdoux, after being convicted of killing multiple women, is put in a cell, visited by reporters, a priest, read his conviction, offered a cigarette, rum, and then led out to the guillotine (I’m not really spoiling it either, since he talks from the here-after in the beginning of the film).
An extra note
(just realized that was a unintentional pun)
While I usually prefer listening to the original scores to the films, there is one album that I have referenced that was a big part of my early Chaplin-phile days and before the internet.
It’s called “Charlie! Music from the Classic Movies by Charles Chaplin” performed by the Munich Symphony Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Francis Shaw. Originally released during Chaplin’s centennial in 1989, re-released in 1993 (when I got it.)
The YouTube videos that I have previously linked show different album covers but the same versions of the songs. I just wanted to get that straight, especially if you go looking for a physical copy :).
Totally recommended and worth seeking out!
And the City Lights album that I mentioned above that I owned and wore out was “City Lights”, conducted by Carl Davis. Originally recorded in 1989 or centennial, re-released in 1991. Not the whole soundtrack, but a majority. Comes with a nice booklet about the re-recording and things they discovered.
Another high recommendation! (anything with Carl Davis is really good!)
This post on the Chaplin movie is very involved. So let’s get movin’!
BTW – this is not just a review. This is a variety of thoughts I have on the film. And I know I’m not going to get all my thoughts here in one post. Maybe something else down the road? There’s bound to be something I’ll forget to say.
First, to get it out of the way: Robert Downey, Jr is just magical as Chaplin. Absolutely wonderful! He’s the best thing about it, and there are several great things in the movie. I love him! When playing young Chaplin, I forget that someone else is playing him. And I know that my opinion of him in this is cliché. But it’s oh so true!
Also another thing to get out of the way: Events that happened in the movie, like 90% of it, did not happen exactly as shown. There would have been different people involved, or different setting, but it would still have the same essence. For storytelling/budget/whatever purposes (I suppose), it was told the way it was shown. And I do not blame Attenborough for several of the faults with the film. It was an uphill battle to get it made.
The Trailer
My experience watching it
A picture I took a couple years ago: My very worn out CD of the Chaplin soundtrack, and in the middle, my ticket stub from the United Artists theater where I watched it on it’s nation-wide opening day.
The first three times I saw it, it was in the movie theater. A United Artists theater (not intentionally, I swear!) the first time. I don’t know how many were hard core fans like me who had watched all the movies, read books and articles, watched documentaries. I soon discovered that there certainly a number of them who had never seen Chaplin without his famous mustache. The big clue was when I heard audible gasps when Chaplin peeled it off as he is taking his makeup off in the opening.
I went in with a rather high expectation, having seen and loved Attenborough’s Gandhi. While I did not enjoy it as much as Gandhi (then again, I don’t know near as much), I really liked it, and still do.
Movie vs. What really happened
There are a few things that spring to mind such as the creation and first film appearance of the Little Tramp. The examples I give below are, by far, not all of them
The Flickers
Movie – Chaplin watching the “flickers” for the first time in Butte, Montana, and while watching them, he gets a telegram handed to him by Stan Laurel. The telegram was from California to go into the movie business.
What really happened – According to “My Autobiography”, Chaplin was in Philadelphia. Although he was with the Karno troupe’s manager, Alf Reeves, had the telegram and Chaplin read it.
Rollie Totheroh
Rollie (David Duchovny, right before X Files), Mack Sennett (Dan Ackroyd), and Chaplin (Downey)
Movie – Chaplin first meets Rollie with Mack Sennett where they are shooting a movie. And under Mack’s directions, cuts Charlie out of his first film appearance. He then goes with Chaplin from the Keystone company onwards.
What Really Happened – I have read conflicting reports. Some say Rollie starting working with Chaplin in 1915 with Essanay. Others say Rollie didn’t work with Chaplin until Chaplin hired him in 1916 during Chaplin’s Mutual period. But it wasn’t with Sennett, that’s for sure. But, he did play a big part in how Chaplin’s films were shot, up to 1952 with Limelight.
Creating the Tramp
Movie – Chaplin, in a rush to put together a costume for Mack Sennett, grabs different pieces of clothing in the wardrobe department and puts together something. Then goes out on a wedding party set and the first appearance of The Little Tramp character is born.
From Mabel’s Strange Predicament. The Tramp character is only a few minutes old. Little did he know, he would have it for over 20 years and this character would change the world
What Really Happened – This is a good example of “It didn’t happen this way, but it got the spirit of it.” No one today knows 100% what film he first performed as the tramp. It is possible that the first movie that was filmed with Chaplin wearing his outfit was Mabel’s Strange Predicament. However, the first time the movie-going public sees the tramp is Kid Auto Races at Venice. It was common for Sennett to not show films in the same order that they were shot.
However, the set that was used for “Chaplin” is very close to the set Chaplin used for The Adventurer for the Mutual company in 1917. Not only the set but also Charlie doing the lampshade gag to hide from his pursuers is also from The Adventurer.
Easter Eggs!
There are several in this film. Some are more “in your face” than others.
Harry Lauder.
When Charlie was growing up, and as a young performer, a popular entertainer/singer/comedian was a Scot name Harry Lauder. Sure, in the movie there could have been just a random guy dressed up in a traditional Scottish outfit with bagpipes who was performing there, but I doubt it.
In the video below, Harry comes to visit Chaplin in 1918 at Chaplin’s studio
Stan Laurel
This “in your face” one is more obvious. That is, if you know that Stan Laurel was Chaplin’s understudy during their Karno music hall days prior to making it big in the movies. Since he only calls him Stanley without a last name, it’s not totally obvious.
I am glad they put Stanley in the film (Chaplin didn’t mention him in his autobiography, except in a photo caption for the Karno hockey team). A bit more would have been nice.
46 Takes.
During the scene where Charlie is directing Edna Purviance for The Immigrant, Chaplin asks her to do another take, and reminds her she is supposed to be starving. She protests “It’s hard to be hungry after 46 takes!” And then a moment later when he invites her out for chili con carne (which has beans in it), she responds “I’ll kill you, Charlie.” Then Charlie shouts out to the crew “MORE BEANS!”, Edna replies by throwing something (bread?) at him.
I remember watching this in the theater and I’m thinking “Is that a reference to Unknown Chaplin?”. Unknown Chaplin is a 3 part documentary about how Chaplin made several of his films using filmed rehearsals (I will talk much more about this later on in the 30 day challenge). In the first part when talking about The Immigrant, there is a shot showing the slateboard showing what take they are on before each shooting. And right before Edna’s character is introduced, is the slateboard with a chalked written 46.
Also in this scene…
Another Easter Egg! The song that is played right before Edna protest about the beans is an instrumental version of a anti-Chaplin song called “When the Moon Shines Bright on Charlie Chaplin” which protested Chaplin’s seemingly unwillingness to fight The Great War. In reality, he failed the physical requirements. And people in the military told him that he shouldn’t join anyway because he was important for morale.
David Robinson cameo.
The movie is based on two books: Chaplin’s My Autobiography, and Chaplin: His Life and Art by David Robinson. And it took many years before I knew Mr. Robinson had a very brief appearance. Thanks to the cool feature that Amazon Prime Video and Google Play has where they will identify who is on the screen. During the party at Doug Fairbanks’ place, you can see him as Doug’s manservant. Mr. Robinson is the gentleman on the left, arranging Doug Fairbanks’ (played wonderfully by Kevin Kline) outfit.
Blink and you’ll miss him.
Toraichi Kono
While I was happy to see him appear, he should have been in it more.
Kono was a Japanese immigrant who found himself hired by Chaplin. He became Chaplin’s chauffeur, valet, bodyguard. Pretty much if you wanted to get to Chaplin, you went through Kono.
He was mostly behind the scenes though. He did briefly appear in Chaplin’s 1917’s The Adventurer as Edna’s character’s chauffeur who comes to the rescue. However Kono’s wife opposed to him being in movies believing he was dishonoring his family. So he never appeared in another one. I have often wondered how minorities in film, especially Asians, would have be seen if he was in more films. (I also talk a little about Kono here in my Doctor Who meets Charlie Chaplin comic book review)
Back to Chaplin, they should have replaced that Frank guy (who I am 99.9% sure is another fictional character) with Kono, and that would have been much better.
The Totherohs
A couple cool “blink and you’ll miss it” fellows were David and Jack Totheroh, grandson and son of Rollie Totheroh, Chaplin’s main cameraman from 1917 until 1952. David is (I think) at the photography camera on the left, and Jack is on the movie camera on the right.
The drawbacks
There are a few faults with the film, and a good number of them I do not blame Attenborough for. He had an uphill battle to get this film greenlit, fight to keep Downey (the studio wanted someone with a bigger name), and then somehow shoot it.
Sydney. The biggest one that bothered me is the depiction of Charlie’s older brother, Sydney. Syd played a massive role in Charlie’s life and (from the way Charlie talks about him in Charlie’s autobiography) wouldn’t have protested near as often as what is depicted in the movie. Those two had a close bond and Syd did a great job being his little brother’s manager. He was a very talented comedian in his own right, playing a vital role in getting Fred Karno to hire Charlie.
Also costar a few times, such as in A Dog’s Life (see below). I adore this scene!
His portrayal was good, up until he protests “The Immigrant” where Charlie kicking an immigration officer in the butt. From then on, I feel he symbolically represents the growing critical pressure Charlie really was beginning to get around that time, and that would continue to grow and lead to his exile. They could have created another character/s who did the protesting.
The overall accuracy
Again, it goes back to most of it not happening the way it was shown. And not putting enough emphasis on certain key moments, like the forming of United Artists. That was mentioned, but that’s it. I don’t blame Attenborough at all, he was constantly told to cut things out due to time, money, and who knows what else was thrown at him. As he says in one interview years later, he wishes he could redo it. Unfortunately, that never happened.
The Music
John Barry
I bought the soundtrack before seeing the film. When I first picked it up in the store, and looked over the track listing. I saw not only a couple version of Smile, but then I saw track 7, “Salt Lake City Episode” and it stated it was a re-recording of a song from City Lights (original 1931 and another re-recording conducted by the wonderful Carl Davis and played by the City Lights Orchestra). My reflex response was “Gimme!” and I went right up to the register and bought it. Because this was before the internet boom. No MP3s or YouTube to download it. And being able to listen to Chaplin’s music in my boombox and my car was just not able to be done before.
What I love from the soundtrack
John Barry composed the score, a couple years after doing the soundtrack for Dances with Wolves. And I still love it to bits! Track 4, “To California/The Cutting Room” is my favorite, When I visited California back in April of 1993, I listened to this song while riding along the road along the pacific coast that overlooked the ocean. Gah! Both were beautiful! Recommended if you get the chance. Also the following track, “Creating the Tramp/Wedding Chase” is fun. Track 7 “Salt Lake City Episode” I already mentioned above.
You got to have “Smile” in there, that’s track 13 (what I like to call the ballroom dancing version because that’s what I picture when listening to it). And there’s also a version of Downey himself singing it at track 16. At first I did not like this version at all. It sounded way to modern and just… ick. But it didn’t take long for me to warm up to it, and soon love it. And the Main Theme is something I hope to play on keyboard one day. It’s slow paced, so somewhat manageable
A few years later, 2004, Downey made his own album. And on there, he sang Smile again. A slow jazz version.
The rest of the cast
As I said, Downey is just drop-jaw good. There are a few others that I wanted to talk about.
Hannah Chaplin
Played by Geraldine Chaplin. This was a big one. To have Charlie’s oldest daughter play her own grandmother, Hannah Chaplin, was wonderful casting. Geraldine’s first film appearance was in her father’s movie Limelight. And it was lovely to see her here, playing her grandmother. Interestingly, she never knew Hannah. Hannah had passed away in 1928. Geraldine was born in 1944. She just knew her from her father’s stories about her.
Hetty Kelly & Oona Chaplin
An interesting casting choice was having Moira Kelly play both of Charlie major love interests: his first love Hetty Kelly and his fourth (and last) wife Oona. I liked it, though it seems to divide some fans.
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford
Wonderfully played by Kevin Kline. I absolutely loved him in this! Stole every scene he was in. In real life as in the movie, Doug was Charlie’s best friend. Since both of them were huge silent film stars, neither of them felt like the other was trying to steal the other’s fame. They could have made a whole film of the adventures of these two and I would have been happy :). As for Mary Pickford, I don’t know why it showed Charlie and Mary not getting along. According to his autobiography, they were great friends, and he admired her business sense when it came to running United Artists.
Mack Sennett
Canadian born Mack Sennett, the person who gave Chaplin his start in movies and almost fired him right away. Played wonderfully by Canadian born Dan Ackroyd. On the picky side, they should have greyed Ackroyd’s hair some, but other than that. I really liked him.
And the Mack Sennett Studios was good to see! And hearing the rooster crow follows Chaplin’s own description of the studios in his autobiography that the studio seemed like it was part farmhouse barn.
Mack Sennett’s real cyclorama...and the reproduction in Chaplin
Where are the freakin’ Oscars?!?
Ok, I might be over dramatic. But serious, Downey deserved the Oscar. John Barry also deserved it for his magnificent score.
The film also got nominated for a few Golden Globes, Downey for Best Actor, Geraldine for Best Supporting Actress
But speaking of Motion Picture Academy, I’ll share a clip from the 1972 Oscar that parts were used towards the end of the movie:
Behind the scenes and film locations
And last year on the Film Stories podcast episode “Thor The Dark World (2013) and Chaplin (1992)” (Chaplin talk starts 20:14 into the episode. First half of the show is about the second Thor movie) where Simon Brew talks about th whys and hows “Chaplin” came about. Great show, and a I learned a few things. Like how badly Steven Spielberg wanted Attenborough to be in Jurassic Park, but Attenborough was making Chaplin, so Spielberg delayed JP. Among other facts. Worth a listen!
Locations.
Some locations and information about several locations and their history can be found here
Favorite Quotes/Scenes
Suit of armor
Sennett (looking impatiently at his watch): Jesus! Rollie: You told him to get changed, remember? Sennett: What’s he putting on, a suit of armor?
Why I like it: This is great because the tramp outfit/character really protected Charlie from being fired, which he really thought was going to happen. But he became a huge success. But in the last few years this line has taken on a new meaning… Iron Man.
And the scene with Charlie first creating the Tramp and first scene. As I mentioned in an above segment, not accurate but a lot of fun to watch.
Family Feud
Sydney: Who the hell is gonna pay to see you when everybody else has gone to sound? Charlie: Who? I’ll tell you who. The Japanese for one thing, and the Russkies for another. And anyone else who doesn’t happen to speak English. Or have you forgotten about the other 9/10 of the globe?
Why I like it: Outside of my feelings about Syd being portrayed this way, this is a good example of Charlie’s uhhh….stubbornness about not wanting to switch to sound, even after everyone else had done so. He wanted to tell his story his way and nobody was going to talk him out of it (haha, sorry about the pun.) People did think he was crazy for making silent picture several years after the industry started sound. And he knew that it would be easiest for people around the world to enjoy it
The Nazi
At a party, Chaplin and Doug Fairbanks encounters a Nazi diplomat. After refusing to shake the Nazi’s hand, the Nazi asks: “What have you against us, Mr. Chaplin?”
Charlie: “What have got against everybody else?”
A few moments later as Chaplin, Paulette, and Doug leave the party:
Doug (sarcastically): “Lovely little international incident you caused in there”
(Moment later)
Doug: “It’s funny, you know. You look a lot like him. Adolf, I mean. You know, with your mustache on. I think he stole your act!”
Why I like it. Yeah, Chaplin really did NOT like the Nazis. At all. And although I really doubt this event actually happened, I can totally see Charlie reacting this way if put in that situation. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend The Great Dictator.
Exile
Oona: (holding the telegram) They’ve thrown you out.
Charlie: Thrown me out? Thrown me out of what?
Oona: Of America
He looks down, then back to the New York City skyline slowly disappearing, then back at her.
Charlie: I… I can’t go back?
Why I like this
It’s one of the crucial moments of his life, and what makes him understandably bitter with the United States, hence A King in New York
Cheered People Up
Charlie (talking to George): “End of the day, you’re not judged by what you didn’t do, but by what you did. Didn’t change things… I just just…. he just… cheered people up. Not bad, that.”
Ten Years Later
Oona: That was California calling. You really have to give them an answer.
Charlie (frustrated): No, They took 20 years to make up their minds. They can take another afternoon.
Oona: Enough. Enough! (gives him a chocolate)
Charlie (calms down, and then looking concerned at her): What if they still hate me?
Why I like This
In real life, Chaplin went back and forth about whether or not he should return to the States, and if Hollywood liked him again. But Oona talked him into going back. And I’m so glad she did!
Also I really liked the transition from 1963 with George leaving Charlie asleep on the porch. Then blurry screen. Then it’s 1972. And that sweet music that gets me choked up every freaking time.
Hmmm….
And you know what I just discovered while writing this? Blooper about it being “Ten Years Later”. Because Charlie made his triumphant return to Los Angeles in 1972. So it’s actually 9 years later. Haha! Always noticing something with this film!
A couple lessons in slang
Cockney rhyming
Another thing that the movie taught me was the use of cockney slang.
During the scene where Charlie and Hetty had been “politely” thrown out of a posh restaurant due to being in the theater (actors were looked down upon in society for years until the advent of… wait for it…. the movies), Charlie starts to imagine the future when he would be wealthy and they could go into whatever place they wanted.
Charlie: You wait. Someday they’ll beg. Yeah. We’ll walk in there, you and me, you in a fur, dripping jewels. Me in me own whistle.
Hetty: Whistle?
Charlie: Yeah, whistle and flute. Suit.
It took me a few months to get this. Around this time, my brother had a French tutor who was British. When I took him over for his lessons, she and I somehow got in a conversation about the rhyming and she taught me about the basics of Cockney rhyming. And then this scene made much more sense!
Any Old Iron
Also in the song that Syd and Charlie sing a couple different times has a lot of slang and I still don’t totally understand it. The song was a popular Music Hall song called Any Old Iron. It’s full of cockney slang
Below is a fun little video put out by the Anglophenia YouTube channel a few years ago that helps explain some of the words:
Nice little flivver, Chas
One word I never was able to figure out until closed captioning was during the scene where Charlie meets up with Syd and his wife at the train station. Leaving the station, Syd says “Nice little flivver, Chas. When do I get to meet Mr. Sennett?”
Charlie, Minnie, and Syd riding in Charlie’s new flivver
According to Wikipedia: flivver – “early twentieth-century American slang for an automobile”. And according to Google, it’s also slang for “a cheap car or aircraft, especially one in bad condition”. So Syd could have easily been poking fun at Charlie’s fancy new car by calling it a piece of junk, LOL
If you want to learn more: A cool website to lookup slang of the past is Alpha Dictionary.
A few more thoughts
This was a very ambitious movie. And I never gave much grief about Attenborough because he really tried. And I think it mostly paid off. It is fun to watch and, as I said just a few lines above, there is always something I catch that I hadn’t before. And I have heard from a number of Chaplin fans who became a fan from watching this movie.
Chaplin’s life, because so much happened in almost his 90 years on this planet, it needed more screen time. Like a mini series. Nine parts, with each part covering about a decade of his life. Maybe 10 parts. Something like that. Because there were things I wish were covered. Like a bit more about his music (and him winning an Oscar in 1973 for Best Original Music Score for Limelight, which he made in 1952!), more than just a passing mention of the formation of United Artists, and that mystery around the death of Thomas Ince (though that was interestingly covered in The Cat’s Meow), his first Oscar at the first Academy Awards in 1928, his second divorce (only briefly mentioned, but wow that was a burden), his travels around the world that led to him making Modern Times, and somehow something was missing with the making of The Great Dictator. And other things. And having more accuracy with what was shown.
A Few More Pictures
Rollie (David Duchovny) and Charlie (Robert Downey Jr) from a deleted scene. From the looks of RDJ’s costume, it’s something around the 1916 The Cure.Hugh Downer (as 5 year old Charlie) and Downey (as adult aged Charlie)Sir Richard Attenborough and Downey outside the reconstructed Chaplin Studios (which looks amazing!)Sir Richard directing, with Downey behind him.
Something New
During the time I wrote this, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum share several videos from their Chaplin Days event from 2017. It contains a very interesting panel before and after a screening of the movie. The panel consisted of Sam Gill, Dan Kamin (mime expert who taught Downey), Marc Wanamaker (worked on the research for the film), and David Totheroh (Rollie’s grandson)
And that’s pretty much it. I know that as soon as I publish this, I’ll slap myself on the forehead and say “I forgot to say X! How could I possibly have forgotten X?”
As for the ending, both the Oscars using the actual clips from his films (come on Academy! Release the *whole* presentation!) and the title cards about what happened to the major players were nice. And that some of the very last words spoken were by Daniel “sounds like a spice” Taradash’s very poetic speech during the Oscar presentation:
“A few years ago, Mr. Chaplin said ‘My only enemy is Time’. We respectfully disagree. For wherever and whenever there is communication, a screen and an audience, whether here on Earth and now, or in some unfathomable future on some far away star, Time is Charlie Chaplin’s dear and eternal friend.”
And now we come to his last great era: The United Artists movies. This is the most difficult of all eras because these are (to me, anyway) his best of the best. So now it’s the best of the best of the best.
There’s the underrated and often forgotten “A Woman of Paris”, classic The Gold Rush (I prefer the ’42 version, so help me), heartbreaking funny The Circus (so many layers to why I love this), historic The Great Dictator (Hey Hitler, take that! <punch>. And that ending speech!), Monsieur Verdoux (not your typical Chaplin film, but I love it anyway), and the wonderful Limelight (Chaplin looks so different, it’s like a different actor named Charlie Chaplin is starring it).
I do love and adore all of the above movies. But there is one film that I did not name above and that is Modern Times. The silent movie that isn’t quite a silent movie. The first Chaplin film I saw. And where I began to understand why he was/is a really big deal. (Basically he did just about everything, and he did it well.)
Favorite Scenes
In short: the whole freakin’ movie. But I’ll try and break it down.
The feeding machine. I saw that and just laughed silly. My sides hurt. My mouth hurt. I can’t look at an ear of corn without letting out a little smile.
And then I found out years later that Chaplin was actually controlling the machine underneath the rotating table. He was literally beating himself up. Anything for the art!
The roller skating scene in the department store. If you have seen The Joker (and even the trailer used Jim Durante’s cover of Smile), you have seen this scene. Where Charlie blindfolds himself and roller skates around the floor…. without noticing that the upper floor they are on is under construction.
The shack. The quaint little shack. Where there is a dangerous looming board that swings down and hits Charlie on the noggin. Not once, but twice. I love how Charlie looks up at it, daring it to come down, and… bonk him on the head. Which it does. Always makes me laugh.
The Nonsense Song. Of course, I have to mention the restaurant where Charlie uses his voice for the first time in his movies. And, one may argue, the only time that we hear the Little Tramp’s voice. If you don’t understand the song… well, what’s wrong with you? Kidding. It’s all gibberish on purpose. It’s what happens when you mix French, Italian, Spanish (and who knows what other languages) in a pot, let simmer for a few hours, and have it sung by a guy who is known for being a silent clown. And he pantomimes the story.
Hidden in Plain Sight
I watched this film so many times that I felt there wasn’t much to see that was “new”. But then one day I gave myself a challenge and tried to watch other things other than Charlie happening in-frame. And this is what I have noticed (so far, anyway):
In the lunch scene, there’s a presumably gay prisoner amongst the other prisoners. When they file out to exit, he’s the guy in front of the big guy who is in front of Charlie.
In the department store, and Charlie and the Gamin leave the elevator, the Gamin runs over excitedly to a Mickey Mouse doll and plays with it.
The Music
It’s amazing. While writing this post, I’ve had certain bits running in my head. When I was younger, I could tell what was happening on screen without looking (I’m a bit fuzzy with my memory now. Busyness of life, and getting older).
For streaming, Amazon is a good place to either rent or buy. Also for Blu Ray and DVD.
Bonus
Back in 2004, a singer by the name of J Five released a hip-hop song also called Modern Times that heavily sampled the Nonsense Song. The video costars one of Charlie’s grand-daughters, Dolores.
In my last post for Favorite First National, I named The Kid. Little Jackie Coogan was 4. During the making of Modern Times, he visited Chaplin and they had fun taking some pictures. Little Jackie was now grown up! Here’s a couple photos from then on the street set of MT:
There are lots of other things I can say about this movie (well, all his movies), but I better stop now. Maybe I’ll write more about it down the road :).
Next up – Thoughts on “Chaplin” the movie starring Robert Downey Jr
